More Radiator Weirdness.. Options

[Lexicon_Devil]

Okay, So I put a new radiator into my 94 GT. Everything is working fine...

However -

If I drive, say, 10 miles, everything is cool. No problems.

If I drive, say, 20 miles or longer, I'm getting coolant coming out of
the little hole near the top of my reservoir. it's gathering underneath
my battery.

Has anyone had this problem? All my hoses are clean and not blocked.
And again, for short distances, she's totally cool. I don't get it.

At a loss,
LD

[Bitter]

do a compression test

[Galcobar]

Is your resevoir almost empty when the car is cool?

Sounds to me like your resevoir is overfilled, and when the fluid heats up and expands on longer trips, it overflows the resevoir.

[WannabeGT4]

Try a new radiator cap first.

[njccmd2002]

you may have air trapped in the system

[Lexicon_Devil]

Thanks for all the replies.

It's a brand new radiator cap and radiator. The cap looks fine.

I'm leaning towards the air in the system. I do a pretty thorough job
when I do my radiators...but I could have over-looked it when doing it.

I'm going to check everything out today while I have the time. The Reservoir
could be over filled too. I don't know why the hell I didn't think about that. I
think I was presuming the worst and over looking the simple stuff.

Again, thanks for the replies. I'll let you guys know the verdict.

This post has been edited by Lexicon_Devil: Jul 27, 2008 - 1:24 PM

[Bitter]

when the old rad went bad, did you overheat the car at all?

[Lexicon_Devil]

It got hot for a second. I caught it and blasted the heat to get the temp down and
immediately stopped driving the car until I replaced it.

[Bitter]

it indeed could be an air pocket. does your heat blow hot?

[Lexicon_Devil]

I'm going to go start her up and check it all out.

You have any tips on making sure she's "air less"?

[Lexicon_Devil]

Alright,
She's got full heat. I let her warm up pretty good and gave her some RPMs...

[Bitter]

thats encouraging. now hold a fast idle for about 5 minutes (1500-2500 rpm). that should get it upto full temp quickly. now listen for the fan to come on. it should come on when your coolant temp gets around 200-215F. though that doesnt help you unless you have a temp gauge or a pyrometer.

[Lexicon_Devil]

Okay, I took her for another ride.
My coolant was topped off and my reservoir wasn't over filled.
I drove up the road (50-55 mph) for about 10 miles. Pulled over,
checked it out, and there wasn't any overflow.

The temp gauge was at about 1/3

As I approached 15-17 miles, my temp gauge jumped up to just
under halfway. I pulled over, jumped out and checked, and sure
enough, there's this "puke spot" of coolant all around my battery.
It wasn't continuing to ooze out. Just the puke spot. Weird, right?

So I drove home and the temp gauge stayed right at under halfway.
When I pulled into my driveway, I checked again and there doesn't
seem to be any more that came out. Like the coolant puked once.

I'm gonna check the level after she cools down.

Also, It's 82 degrees here and the heat worked while driving.

Weird, right?

This post has been edited by Lexicon_Devil: Jul 27, 2008 - 6:48 PM

[Bitter]

a little odd. are you sure the cooling fans are coming on?

once its hot, does it idle normal or rough? runs smooth or rough? any misfires once its hot?

[Lexicon_Devil]

I'm checking the fans in a minute...but I'm pretty sure they're coming on.
Almost positive. Could they be shutting off or something?

Runs perfect once it's hot. That's another reason I can't figure this one
out. This is a caper. Call in the Hardy Boys.

Thanks for the help, bro. btw...

This post has been edited by Lexicon_Devil: Jul 27, 2008 - 7:28 PM

[Bitter]

it could have just been air trapped in the system.

when bleeding the cooling system of air you need to
fill rad through cap while squeezing hoses
run car with cap off and heat turned on
hold engine at 2500rpm till heat gets hot
turn heat on low or off
wait for thermostat to open and all air to bleed out
fill rad back to full, make sure overflow is full
put cap on
wait for fans to come on
wait for fans to come on again
turn car off for several hours
top off coolant jug as needed
run car till fans come on
take it around for a drive making sure it runs normal, heat works, temp stays steady


when doing the rad its a good idea to do the thermostat and hoses as well.

[CelicaST_CALI]

did u bleed the air out of ur cooling system?

[Lexicon_Devil]

Alright. After an entire night of checking everything, I checked the
fan thermostat and the plug from the wiring harness seems really
damaged. It almost fell off. The plastic is really brittle and now it
won't go back on tightly.

So, I'd say that's 100% of my problem. Would you?

Now I just have to find the plug for the damn wiring harness.

[Bitter]

that'll do it! the fans probably are either not coming on or doing so intermittently. you can probably get on from a junkyard, if not then i know toyota sells those harness pigtails. just assemble it yourself, you'll see when you get it.

[Lexicon_Devil]

Yep. It's junk-yarding for me tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help.

I was seriously stumped on this.

When I changed the radiator, the fan thermostat
plug seemed to snap on just fine. It probably
broke when putting it on. I feel like kicking myself
in the ass for not noticing it sooner.

Hah!